Fiddling the Tax Code--Again
House Passes Bill to Ease Alternative Minimum Tax
Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, November 10, 2007; Page A01
The House yesterday narrowly approved a $73.8 billion measure to protect millions of families from the alternative minimum tax and offer new tax breaks to middle-income homeowners and low-income parents, offset by tax increases that would land primarily on wealthy Wall Street financiers.
The 216 to 193 vote came after a fiery debate that divided Democrats and energized Republicans, who assailed proposed tax increases that Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Tex.) called "an assault on free enterprise." Democrats countered that they were only closing tax loopholes on super-rich private-equity and hedge fund managers in order to live by a pledge of fiscal responsibility.
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Nancy Pelosi claims to have 'planted the flag of fiscal responsibility' and now we'll see if the Senate allows it to stand.
True fiscal responsibility would be to plant a stake in the heart of the Tax Code and bury it.
But it's as good a move as has been made in a while by a frozen Congress and we have to take what we can get, even if it's rearranging chairs.
* For more in-depth articles by Jim on Taxes, check out Opinion-Columns.com